Tearful Blood
by Nightshade Woe
Summary: A tragedy Oneshot, based on Colette's cruxis crystal controlled reactions.


**Disclaimer: **NAMCO Tales Studio, Ltd. holds the exclusive rights to all characters and story elements appearing in the video game Tales of Symphonia. The following story has been created for entertainment purposes only, and no profit has been made by the author.

Thanks to koinekid for letting me use his disclaimer.

This is an alternate dimension, horror/macabre, tragedy one-shot. A format I like to call an Aldihomatra one-shot. Heh. Sorry….

After you read this, you will probably want to flame me, decapitate me, and feed my headless corpse to mutant crocodiles, but please, please try to refrain.

Without any further ado, here's my tragedy one-shot!

The Tragedy of Symphonia: Tearful Blood

Lloyd sat on a boulder, looking out of the strange land of Tethe'alla at the beautiful sunset. He shivered as a cool breeze ruffled his spiky, cow-licked hair. Hugging one knee close to him and letting the other sprawl lazily off the side of the large rock, he sighed.

So much had happened so fast. They had arrived in the Tower of Salvation hoping to finally complete the world regeneration. Instead, they had been betrayed, hurt and almost killed. He winced as he remembered the searing pain of the battles. Right before they had been killed by Yggdrasill, the Renegades had "rescued" them.

But, the Renegades had turned on them too, and they had been forced to steal the Rheiards, which, thanks to lack of power, they had ended up crashing on these blasted mountains. Since they it had been late in the afternoon, they had decided to set up camp.

Lloyd sighed again. The whole world seemed to be against them. The journey that had led them all over Sylvarant had only resulted in Colette losing her soul. He turned his head slightly, looking at her.

Colette stood at the edge of the mountain summit, her now reddish eyes looking out into space. Looking at nothing at all. Her mouth was drawn into a thin line, her expression unreadable. Her pale skin reflected the setting sun's orange rays, enhancing her smooth features, but this brought no joy to Lloyd. Stifling a sob, he lowered his face, crystal tears falling onto his blue leggings.

She wasn't Colette anymore. She was a lifeless shell. No feelings, no emotions. Colette had been one of his best childhood friends. Over the last sixteen years, he and Colette had been nigh on inseparable. To Lloyd, she was his sister. For the first time, he questioned his decision to save her. Was this state worse than death, would it have been better for Colette to have died?

He gasped softly and shook his head, ridding his mind of such troubling thoughts. As the majority of the sun dipped below the dark horizon, the sunset lost it's radiance. Looking resentfully at the no longer stunning sight, he shifted his sitting body to face the other way.

Genis, Lloyd's longtime childhood friend, crouched attentively over the simmering stew he had been preparing. The breeze suddenly blew Genis' white hair in front of his face, and with a groan, he reached up and pushed it away. Apparently it wasn't the first time it had happened.

Her back on a boulder, Raine, Lloyd's teacher and Genis' sister, sat just outside the fire's light, reading a thick book. Lloyd smiled slightly as her face inched closer, trying to read the text in the failing light. Pretty soon she would have to use the fire to read.

Near the opposite edge of the large, flat summit. The newest member of their party, Sheena, stood, her arms crossed in front her, facing away from Lloyd. Her weight was shifted to her left hip, enhancing her voluptuous form. Lloyd blushed and looked down again. She was beautiful. Ever since she had joined with them at Luin, he had liked her.

She was tough and spunky on the outside, but when it came down to it, she liked being a lady sometimes. Looking up again, Lloyd found that she had turned around and was looking at him. Noticing him, a blush rushed to Sheena's face, and she quickly turned around again.

"Everyone!" Genis called, "Dinner's ready! Sheena, would you get Colette?"

Sheena turned around, her gaze purposefully avoiding Lloyd. "Um… Sure!" she answered. As she turned and headed for Colette's stiff form, Lloyd followed her with his gaze.

Sheena got close to Collete, and grabbed her shoulder. "Colette, dinner's rea-

Faster than the eye could see, Colette's chakrams appeared in her hands and she spun around. She lashed out in opposite directions with both her weapons in a cross maneuver. For the second after the lightning-fast strike passed though her body, Sheena stood, her eyes wide.

Suddenly, with an unholy fountain of blood, Sheena's torso separated from her hips.

Lloyd gasped. "What the hell?" He cried as he got up and sprinted to the two girls. "SHEENA!"

He skidded to his knee's and picked up Sheena's torso by her shoulders, tears filling his eyes. Sheena's open eyes fluttered around, and sweat dampened her brow. Dark red blood steadily emptied from the bottom of her torso.

Sheena's haphazard sight focused on Lloyd. "Lloyd.." She whispered.

"Sheena. I'm right here." Lloyd whispered back, his voice cracking. There was no way she would make it.

Her breath was barely audible now. "Lloyd.. I… I.. l-

Something broke loose and a flow of blood erupted from the gaping wound. Sheena's eyes glossed over as she passed the veil into death.

"No! Sheena!" Lloyd screamed, smothering his face into her lifeless bosom. For the first time, Lloyd realized how much he adored this woman. Everything she had done for him had been gentle and loving. Now she was dead.

Alerted by Lloyd's screams, the two sage siblings came running up. As the horrible scene came into their sight, they stopped dead.

"Oh my god!" Genis screamed, falling down. Turning his head to the side, he threw up.

"What the hell happened?" Raine yelled, running over to Lloyd.

"She startled Colette, and Colette k-killed her.." Lloyd forced out between his racking sobs. Suddenly, eerily, Lloyd stopped crying. Raine bristled, not knowing Lloyd's intentions. He stood up, looking down at his fallen friend. He drew his swords slowly, the well-oiled blades making only the softest of noises, and turned his gaze to an emotionless Colette. "You won't get away with this."

Faster than Raine could do anything, Lloyd rushed at Colette, both his blades held over his head. They came down in a quick arc, Lloyd screaming at the top of his lungs.

Without looking at Lloyd, Colette's hands shot up. Her chakrams came up and out, throwing both Lloyd's blades out wide. Seeing his strikes deflected, Lloyd spun to the side and came in again, his blades parallel, diving for Colette's side. One her chakrams came down, catching both of blades in its loop. She twisted her golden weapon, taking the weapons out of Lloyd's surprised hands. Faster than the eyes could see, Colette spun and kicked Lloyd in the face, sending him flying a short distance.

Recovering from his sickness, Genis stood up. He gasped as he saw Lloyd's swords on the ground by the Colette's unusually muddy feet. His gaze led him to Lloyd on the ground a few feet away, his nose bleeding profusely.

"LLOYD!" Genis cried. Thinking his friend dead, tears started to spill from his blue eyes. Distraught, he began an incantation, aiming his destructive spell at Colette. A glowing red circle appeared beneath him, casting an eerie light. His eyes were closed, his arm holding his Kendama in front of him.

Still looking straight ahead, Colette's Cruxis Crystal-controlled mind detected the threat. With a flick of her wrist, she sent her right chakram speeding at the unaware Genis. The razor sharp disk spun right through Genis' chest, severing skin, muscle and bone. Blood sprayed into the air, reflecting the sun's dying light. Genis, his eyes wide, fell back, his blood pooling in the dirt.

Colette's bloody chakram floated back into her waiting hand.

"GENIS!" Raine cried, running over to her fallen brother. She been too shocked by Lloyd's violent behavior to even move, but her brother's lifeblood spilling out of him had brought her out of that trance.

When she reached Genis, Raine started her own incantation, aiming to save Genis.

Colette's Cruxis Crystal sensed mana waves coming from the woman similar to the ones that had radiated off the boy it had just killed a moment ago. The crystal sent its orders.

Colette glanced at Raine. Instantly a white ray of light fell from the sky. It flashed, engulfing half of her body, then disappeared.

The remaining half of Raine's body trembled, then fell forward. A small pile of ashes was beside her.

Lloyd opened his eyes, and they widened, the pupils shrinking as he saw his other two friends on the ground, dead.

"YOU BASTARD!" he yelled at Colette. He threw himself forward and broke into a dead run at her, screaming all the way. When he reached her, she spun, her left chakram slicing across his leg. He didn't care. Screaming, he threw his fist at her face landing a punch on her nose. The hit sent her skidding back, her balance kept by her glowing wings that had just erupted from her back. Her stony face was covered in blood.

Lloyd quickly limped to his fallen swords, stood and faced Colette, murder in his eyes. The rage was filling him. Engulfing his body and mind with hate. He had to kill her. The Murderer of Love.

He screamed and launched himself at her again, tears spilling from his brown, fierce eyes. He sliced and stabbed at her in abandon, her hands working with blinding speed to stop Lloyd's attacks.

"You are not Colette!" Lloyd screamed as he launched a quick double-poke at her face. "You are evil! A monster!"

Colette, saying nothing, waved both her chakrams in front of her blood-covered face, deflecting Lloyd's attack. Somewhere in the Cruxis Crystal's calculations, a mistake was made. Colette's left foot slipped a little in the wet mud, throwing her a little off balance.

Lloyd saw his chance.

He rushed forward, stabbing both his blades at Colette's unprotected face.

But it wasn't unprotected. Almost instantly regaining her balance, Colette brought both her chakrams up, the maneuver catching one of Lloyd's blades in each the golden hoops of her weapons. Without pausing, she flung her arms out to her sides, viciously ripping Lloyd's finely crafted swords away from his gloved hands.

The breeze blew a little, shifting Colette's shimmering blonde hair around her emotionless, bloody face. Her arms were crossed, each chakram inches from either side of Lloyd's unprotected throat.

"Colette…" Lloyd gasped, his neck stretched, his subconscious way of trying to avoid the razor-sharp chakrams. Slowly, ever so slowly, he began to reach out, his arm reaching for Colette.

The Cruxis Crystal had enough. Colette's hands lashed out, uncrossing her arms, and separating Lloyd's wide-eyed head from his shoulders. His head fell backwards, landing with a squish in the mud. His body, a massive amount of blood spurting out of his severed neck, soon followed.

Colette stood over Lloyd's dead body, looking at nothing in particular. The Cruxis Crystal monitored the environment for danger: Wind, seven miles per hour. It's origin, northwest. Not strong enough to cause bodily harm. Life, no creatures detected.

It rambled off the list, and when it was done, it evaluated the environment to be safe.

For hours, a blank Colette stood on the summit, covered with blood, holding bloody weapons. She made not a sound, not a move. She just stood there in the middle of the night, her eye's directed at the horizon.

Suddenly, a tear, reflecting the many stars' light, rolled down her cheek. It was soon followed by another, and another. Soon, they were nonstop. Small noises came from Colette's throat, and her chest heaved. Quickly, she was all out bawling.

The Cruxis Crystal frantically searched Colette's consciousness for the malfunction. It had not permitted this behavior! It raced along her neurons until suddenly it hit a wall. A wall of emotion. Sadness.

The real Colette, wrapped in folds of the Cruxis Crystal's domination, had finally found leverage. It was the sadness. It built a wall that could stop the crystal. Colette pushed with all her might against that wall, and with one final shove, forced the crystal's control out of her body.

Colette dropped to her knees, screaming, crying, hating herself for what she had done. Her tears fell down her white clothes, almost soaking them in tears. She kept screaming, choking, and crying for what seemed an eternity.

She could not live.

She threw her chakrams aside and picked herself up, fighting the crystal every step of the way, building up her wall of sadness, she started to run, run to the edge of the summit. She ran as hard as she ever had, never slowing. She leaped off the side of the mountain, tears streaming behind her. She fought the crystal throughout her descent, keeping her wings from spilling out and saving her worthless life.

As she closed on the sharp rocks on the ground, she closed her eyes.

"Lloyd…I'm…so sorry…" 

Her body slammed into the razor-sharp stones.

--This story is the property of Nightshade Woe.--


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